Self-locking swinging stanchion.



T.L.REGAN. SELF LOCKING SWINGING STANCHION.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3,1914.

1,148,191 Patented July 27,1915.

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COLUMBIA PLANUGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. D. cv

THOMAS L. REGAN, or CAMDEN, NEW YORK.

sELrooKnveswnveme srauenron.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1915.

Application filed July 2, 191a. Serial No. 548,814."

To all whom it may concern r g Be it known that I, THoMAs L. REGAN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Camden, in the cou'ntyofOneida and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Self'Locking Swinging Stanchions; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

I This invention relates broadly to cattle stanchions and moreparticularly relates to devices of this character which are designed tobe operated by the animal on entering the stanchion so as to close thedevice to secure the animal until the latter is released by extraneousaid.

As a principal object this invention contemplates the provision of acattle stanchion, an important component of which is a lever plate ortrigger adapted to be encountered by the animal on entering thestanchion and to be given amovement thereby which shall close, thestanchion upon the animal. v

A further object is to provide means formed upon the animal actuatedlever of an automatic cattle stanchion which shall prevent the openingof thestanchion by the animal until it-is desired to release the latter.i

A further aim is to provide in a swinging automatic cattle stanchion,means for the prevention of the swinging movement when the devlce isopen and means whereby an animal actuated lever in operating to closethe stanchion wlll also operate to release the first said meansso thatthe swinging movement of the stanchion will be permitted when the animalis secured therein.

A still further aim of this invention is to accomplish the foregoingobjects without employing resilient agencies to aid in the automaticworking of the stanchion and to also provide a device of the typedescribed which shall be'constructed with such regard to pro portion,number and arrangement ofparts', as to be cheaply manufactured, bedurable and efficient in operation and capable of being readily setup inoperative position with a minimum expenditure of time and labor owing tothe simplicityof construction.

The above and, additional objects which will become apparent as thedescription of this invention proceeds are accomplished by su means asare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the followingspecification and then more particularly 1 pointed out in the claimswhich are append ed hereto and form a part of this application. i

.VVith reference to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated thepreferred embodiment of'my invention as it is reduced to practice,and'throughout the several views of which like characters of referencedesignate similar parts, Figure 1 is an elevation of my device showingthe same in its closed position as it would appear after an animal hadentered the stanchion, 'and, Fi'g. 2 is a similar view showing thestanchion as it appears when openand is set for the entrance of theanimal.

Proceeding now to the description of the drawings, my stanchioncomprises the frame 5 which is pivotally mounted for a swinging"movement about a vertical axis by means of clined from a perpendicularposition, both I of these uprights being suitably secured to the beforementioned end plates 10 and 11 at the extremitiesthereof, the wholeframe being spaced from the sill 8 by any suitable means such as thewasher 6 which is positioned about theflpivotingpin 6 as shown. Thevertical upright 12 is adapted to form one portion of the animalgripping member and I provide toact as the other portion the movablebeam 14 whichis pivoted to the lower end plate 10 and is adapted to'haveits free extremity move within a slot 15 formed in the upper end plate11. Pivoted to the walls of this slot 15 I provide the sub} stantiallyL-shaped latch or locking lever 16 which is formed upon its shortershank'with the angular extension 17 adapted to rest upon the top of theinclined beam 13when the latch is not in its locking positionin or derthat it may be readily availablefor the moved upwardly. to a recess 18formed'in the underside of the top, plate 9 and as will readily be seenprevents the swinging of the stanchion frame 5 about the pivoting points6 and 7 when the extension 17 isreceived by this recess.

Near the center of the movable stanchion member 14 is pivoted asat 19the animal actuated lever or trigger plate 20 which as shown issubstantially a triangle in shape butformed with an offset or camportion 21 upon the corner nearest the pivot 19. This trigger plate isof sufficient length to extend across the space between the stanchionmembers 12 and 14. evenwhen that space is greatest as shown in Fig. 2when the stanchion is ready for the entrance of the animal and thepivoted stanchion member lat has been moved to take up a positionparallel to the inclined beam 13. A suitable bearing block 22 is securedto the fixed frame member 13 and occupies that position which isillustrated and inwhich it is enabled to receive any thrust put upon thelever 20 when the latter isdisplaced byithe entrance of an animal. Thiscompletes the enumeration of the various elements of my'improvedautomatic stanchion the operation of which is as follows: With thestanchion set as in Fig.

2 the entrance. of an animal when driven Ythereinto will dislodge thetrigger plate 20 and by forcing it in the only direction in which itcan'be moved bythe animal, that is downward, the cam surface or offsetportion 21 is brought into contact with the block 22 as the trigger isrotated about its pivoting point 19 and as will readily be seen a vmovementof the pivoted stanchion member 14 is. effected, the free end ofthe latter moving throughan arc in the slot-15 until it occupies theposition shown in Fig. 1 namely that of parallelism with the fixedstanchion member 12, the'trigger 20 by this time depending verticallyfrom its pivoting point and having the flattened surface of the camportion 21 in'contact with the block 22; It will be notedthat thetrigger is constructed so that when the side bearing the cam surface isparallel to the inclined frame member 13 'the'opposite side will beparallel to the movable stanchion memberli the whole being furtherformed so that the trigger 20 in this position extends past the pivotedmember 14 only on; the side away from the animal. It will also .be notedthat the line of contact as illustrated inFig. 1 between the cam surface2l and the block 22 is adaptedto be bisected by a perpendicular drawn tothe contacting surfaces-through the pivot pin 19. This constructionmakes it impossible for any rotary motion to be given to the pivotedtrigger 20 by pressureof the animal against the movable stanchion memberltas such pressure (which of course re acts upon the trigger 20 atright-angles to the contacting surface) will be transmitted directly tothe pivot'l) so that the device is release the animal.

the elongated lever 20 and rotating the same until it again occupies'with the movable stanchion member 1 1 the, position illustrated in Fig.2. I

The operation of the latch member by which the swinging of the stanchionframe 5 about its pivot points 6 and 7 is permitted or prevented, iscoincident with the operation of the trigger 20 by contact therewith ofthe pivoted stanchion member ,14. As shownin Fig. 1 and above describedthe L- shaped latch 16 is pivoted in the slot 15 near the top thereofand with its angular extension 17 upon the upper surface of the inclinedbeam 13 the angle of the L is in consequence nearthe bottom of the slotso that the body of the latch lever is interposed directly in the pathof the free end of the movable lever 14, the stanchion frame as willreadily bef seen being capable of a swinging movementupon its pivots.NVhen the animal has been released however and the movable stanchion 14;been movedto oocupy the opencposition of Fig.2, the free end of thisstanchion will come in contact with the pivoted latch and will force thesame upward until the extension l? has entered the slot 18 atwhich timethe swinging, movement of the stanchion frame is prevented, the objectof this being to keep "the stanchion in readiness for the reentrance ofthe animal which otherwise could not be assured if the stanchion framewas permitted to swing on its pivots and might often need. manual adustment before the cattle could enter, the necessity for thisadjustautomatic stanchions of this type and can accordingly claim theadvantages and desirability set forth in the before mentioned object.

lVhile in the foregoing however, I-have thus illustrated in the drawingsand described in the specificati on such combination and arrangement ofelementsas' constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention I desireto emphasize the factthat IInay makesuch' minor changes in the mattersof l proportion and degree in later adaptations of my device as shallnot alter the spirit of my invention as defined inthe appended claims.

WVhat I claim is:

1. A cattle stanchion, comprising a rigid frame, a movable frame mountedin said rigid frame, a pivoted member in said movable frame, a bearingblock rigidly mounted upon said movable frame, and a cam trigger pivotedto said pivoted member and frictionally engaging said bearing block,said trigger when in elevated position permitting said pivoted member toopen, and closing said pivoted member when in a lowered position, thecam portion of said trigger preventing upward movement of said triggerthrough the medium of said bearing block.

2. A cattle stanchion, comprising a rigid frame, a movable frame mountedin said rigid frame having a pivoted member, a

block having a bearing face rigidly mounted upon said movable frame, atrigger pivotally mounted upon said pivoted member adjacent said block,and a cam portion extended from said trigger adapted to engage Copies ofthis patent may be obtained for the bearing surface of said block toprevent the movement of said pivoted member when said trigger is in adepressed position and to permit movement, of said pivoted member whensaid trigger is in a raised position.

'3. A cattle stanchion, comprising a rigid frame, a movable framemounted in said rigid frame having a pivoted member, a bearingblockarranged upon said movable frame,a trigger pivotally mounted to saidpivoted member adjacent said bearing block, and an eccentricallydisposed cam extension to said trigger adapted to engage said bearingblock and retard upward swinging movement of said trigger after it hasbeen depressed and to prevent movement of said pivoted member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

, THOS. L. REGAN.

WVitnesses V MELVILLE REES,

FRANK DRAKE.

five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

